Building construction



3, 1935. .1. L. AcKENBRAcK BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 2'7, 1934 Patented Aug. 13', 1935 UNITED STATES I. P I

"rem"v OFFICE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION James L; Ackenbrack, Woodlyn, Pa., assignorto 0. W. Ketcham Application September 27, 1934, Serial No. 745,792

8 Claims.

principal desiderata the provision of a new and novel composite brick or slab which will be economical, in the cost of manufacture, readily-and easily applied to the outer surface of building walls made of wood or other sheathing in order to give the wall the appearance of being constructed of brick and yet have the advantages of a wall entirely laid from brick.

In order to cover building walls and give the same the appearance of being constructed of brick, facings have heretobefore been applied which facings usually consists of veneered bricks, blocks or slabs made of various compositions each having a facing or outer surface designed varying as fancy may dictate, and having imbedded therein suitable Wall attaching elements, but it has heretobefore been impossible to apply a burnt veneer brick without employing separatable wall attaching or fastening elements due to the fact that metal fastening elements which are embedded in such non-kiln bricks cannot stand up under the heat applied to during the manufacture of the burnt bricks; Therefore, it is a further object of the invention to construct a veneered burnt brickcapable of being secured to :and cover the outer walls of buildings made of frame: cinder blocks or similar sheathing.

And yet another'equa'lly important object of the invention is to provide a burnt brick capable of being employed as a facing of buildings which when applied will insure a moisture proof wall of a durable and strong construction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a securing clip for'conveniently and quickly connecting burnt brick or non-kiln brick to building walls whereby such bricks will be retained as a veneer for the walls and secured in place with greater security without the necessity of constructing new or enlarged foundations.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of operation may be readily understood by persons skilled in the art, I have in the accompanying illustrative drawing and in the detailed following description based thereupon, set out an embodiment of the same.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 isa sectional perspective view of a portion of a building wall made in accordance with the invention and further illustrating the various steps in theconstruction of the same;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectionalview of the same; I

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the brick attaching clip, and V Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the bricks employedhaving an attaching clip secured thereto and another clip expanded to the position that will enable its application to the same.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing wherein like and corresponding parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout that portion of a building wall represented by the studding l and the sheathing 2 is conventional. To this sheathing is attacheda suitable protective facing such as the bricks 3.

The bricks each consist of an individual molded block kiln dried and hereinafter referred to' as burnt brick. However, bricks or blocks of the non-kiln burnt type may be used and the size and shape of the bricks may varyto meet the requirements for design of .the wall to which they are applied but the brick as herein shown is of a rectangular configuration, standard in length and height but much less in'thickness than the ordinary standard burnt brick used in the building trade in order to reduce the weight thereof, rendering the same for use as a veneeringf The outer face 4 of each brick will have the usual ornamentation thereupon and its opposite or rear face 5 is inclined toward the upper end of the brick in order to form a base portion 6 of greater width tion with my improved brick is preferably made from a continuous piece of copper or similar noncorrosive wire which can be bent and formed in the shape as herein shown upon an ordinary wire bending machine. In forming this clip, a piece of wire I!) is bent at its medial portion in order to form a loop ll. The opposite ends of this loop portion are again bent to form the projecting prongs 12 which latterare adapted to rest within the upper V-shaped grooves of the brick and in so bending the medial portion of this strand of wire the opposite ends or shank portions !3 diverge outwardly. These shank portions 13 may also be bent to form the prongs M which latter are to be seated within the lower V-shaped grooves 8 of the bricks and these shank portions 13' further terminate in end projections l5.

Two of these clips are preferably attached to each brick and in order to apply the clips to the bricks as constructed in accordance with this invention, the operator by gripping the end projections l5 forces the shank portions thereof together against the spring'tension set up in the bending of the'medial portion of each clip. When these shank portions of the clip are so pressed together the distance between the prongs I2 and M will be greater than when the shank portions of each clip are in their normal positions. When may slide over the rear-face of each brick a clip and .cause the-prongs I !2 and 14 to; slide within the respective V--shaped groove of the brick. The

- operator upon releasing pressure upon the shank portions of the clip permit the latter to assume its normal or extended position whereupon it will grip the brick and be securely retained in place thereupon in the manner as is illustrated at the left side of Figure 4' of the drawing. When the clip is in this latter position it is retained against sliding movement upon the brick. Whereas, I have illustrated this fastening clip as being made of wire, it is of course to be understood the same may be made of metal strips and furthermore,

the lower V-shaped grooves of the-bricks. After two retaining clips have been applied to each brick the latter may be placed in position upon the building wall towhich it is applied andre- ,tained to said wall by suitable fastening elements hereinindicated by the staples or nails Hi.

In applying my improved veneered brick with the fastening elements or clips attached thereto to a wall, they are laid in the regular horizontal courses in spaced relation. A completed horizontal course of these bricks as laid upon a wall are indicated at A and the next course of these bricks is laid in superimposed position thereupon as is indicated at B and another horizontal course of these bricks is laid in superimposed position as is indicated at C. After the first course A of these bricks have been laid and fastened to the sheathing 2 of the wall, a spacing block is placed upon the top of such horizontal course whereupon the bricks of the second course are laid so that eachbrick will rest upon such a spacing block and after the bricks have been properly spaced from eachother, they are secured in position. After the succeeding courses are laid, mortar or other suitable binding material is filled in the spaces between each brick whereupon they are securely retained inplace upon the building. wall. In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, I have illustrated the mortar as applied within the spaces between the bricks of the lower course A and a spacing block B being positioned upon the upperends of the bricks of the second'course B. The bricks in the course B ,have been secured in "place and the bricks in the course C areresting in' their proper spaced relation, but have not as yet been attachedto the sheathing of the building wall. In so forming a veneered facing for a building wall the outer faces of the bricks extend parallel with the outer face of the sheathing of such wall and due to the inclined rear wall of each brick, an air space I1 is formed between'each brick and the sheathing of the wall to which it is applied.

Also the upper edge of each brick is retained in. spaced relation fromv the sheathing of the wall whereupon the extensions I5 of the clips of the adjacent course of bricks will extend within such spaces l1 behind the lower course of bricks as is better illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing. In the laying of the bricks of each course they are supported by the spacing block D and as the loops H of each clip extend at an angle the bricks Will be retained in this supported position after they have been connected through their fastening elements I 5 to the wall thereby causing the outer faces of the bricks to extend parallel with the sheathingof the wall.. After the bricks have been'so fastened. to the sheathing, the spacing blocks D are removed and the mortar C is placed within thespaces formed between the bricks whereupon this mortar will have a binding engagement not only with the bricks but will have such an'engagement with a portionof each of the clips thereby securely retaining the bricks in position. From the foregoing itwill be readily understood that I have not only provided a novel fastening element for retaining veneered bricks whether they be of the burnt type or of the non-kiln type to building walls, that I have provided a novel form of veneer brick thereby making it possible to 'usebu.rnt brick for wall facings. It will be also'understood. from the foregoing that I have provided a newand novel method of forming Or laying a veneered brick I wall.

'Whereas I have illustrated each individual brick as being arranged in horizontal courses in each individual brick is fastened to the wall there is no necessity of rebuilding or enlarging the foundations thereof. As the .V-sh'ap'ed grooves in the opposite ends of the bricks are continuous, the bricks may be broken or, cut to any length desired or required during the construction of the building wall and yet permit the use of my separable clips or fasteners. I

Manifestly, the construction herein shown is capable of considerable modification and such modifications as come within the scope of my claims, I consider within the spirit of my invention.

I clairhz- '1. A veneer brick comprising a rectangular body portion, the base of said body portion being of greater width than the upper end thereof forming an inclined rear wall,,a V-shaped' groove formed in the base and upper end of saidbody and said grooves being arranged adjacent to and parallel with the opposed ends of said inclined rear. wall of the body. I Y 2. In combination, a wall, veneering for said wall comprising a plurality of veneered bricks each having grooves formed in'the opposed ends thereof, an attaching clip for each brick having a pair of resiliently connected arms, prongs formed with said arms, said arms each being of a greater length than the distance between v the grooves of the brick to whichit is applied whereby they maybe inserted over the brick and cause said prongs to be retained in locking'engagement with spaced arms each of a length greater than the distance between the V-shaped grooves of the brick to which it is applied, prongs formed with said arms and means for resiliently connecting said arms whereby said prongs when seated within the V-shaped grooves of the brick will be retained in locking engagement therewith.

4. The combination with a wall, a veneered facing therefor comprising a plurality of bricks, each brick having grooves formed in the opposed sides and extending through the opposed'ends thereof, a securing clip for attaching each brick to said wall comprising a pair of expandable arms, prongs formed with said arms, said arms being of a greater length than the distance between the grooves formed in the opposed sides of the brick whereby when said arms are in their compressed positions, said prongs may enter the grooves from either end of the brick, and saidarms when in their expanded positions will cause said prongs to have locking engagement with the grooves of the brick.

5. The combination with a wall, a veneered facing therefor comprising a plurality of bricks, each brick having V-shaped grooves formed in the upper and lower ends and extending through the V-shaped grooves of the brick, and an attaching" loop resiliently connecting said arms and normally causing the same to be expanded in diagonal directions to one another and said prongs being so formed with said arms whereby when the latter are caused to extend parallel to one another against the action of said resilient attaching loop that said prongs may be inserted within the V- shaped grooves of the brick from either end thereof.

6. A veneer brick wall construction comprising i in combinationawall support, a brick facing consisting of a plurality of bricks laid in regular horizontalcourses in spaced relation, the rear wall of each brick being inclined towards the upward end thereof, clips for securing the bricks to said wall support whereby when the outer faces of said bricks lie parallel with said wall support a space will be formed between the inclined rear walls of each brick and said wall support, said clips extending within the spaces formed between said bricks and said wall support and a binding material extending within the spaces between the bricks and covering a portion of said securing clips.

7. A veneer brick wall construction comprising the inclined rear walls of each brick and said wallsupport, said clips extending within the spaces between the bricks and said wall support, extensions formed with each clip whereby the clip extensions from one horizontal course of bricks will extend in the spaces between the bricks of the adjacent courses and said. wall support and a binding material arranged within the spaces between the bricks and about said clips and extensions therefor, substantially as and for the pure pose specified. I

8. A clip for connecting a veneered brick to a wall consisting of a single strand'of non-corrosive wire, an attaching loop formed with the medial portion of said wire, a pair of spaced arms resiliently connected and extending in opposite directions from said attaching loop, a pair of brick engaging prongs formed with and extending at projection formed contiguous with each arm.

JAMES L. ACKENBRACK.

right angles from each of said arms and an end I 

